1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for fixing one of a balloon and a tubular member, and more particularly, to a method for fixing one of a balloon and a tubular member, which fixes an end of the tubular member by winding a thread and medical equipment with a tubular member, fixed using this method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an endoscopic apparatus, a balloon that can expand or shrink is used for various purposes. For example, an ultrasonograph comprises a balloon surrounding an ultrasonic scanning section at an end of an ultrasonic probe to charge an ultrasonic transmission medium thereinto, and an ultrasonic endoscope comprises a balloon surrounding an ultrasonic transducer at an end of the insertion section to charge an ultrasonic transmission medium thereinto. Furthermore, a balloon is attached to an insertion section of an endoscope to fix the insertion section or a balloon is attached to an insertion adapter such as an over tube to fix the insertion adapter inside a body cavity.
In the case of such a balloon for a medical equipment, an end of the balloon is put on an object and fixed with a thread wound around the end of the balloon. For example, in the ultrasonic detection apparatus as described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-235847, the end of a balloon is covered on a ring, a thread is wound around the balloon, and adhesive is applied further thereon, so that the balloon is fixed on the ring.
However, the method of winding or knotting a thread is not described specifically in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-235847. For this reason, since a fastening force is weakened depending on the method of winding or knotting a thread, the balloon may come off or the mounting position of the balloon may be deviated, so that an adverse effect on an inspection using ultrasound may be caused.
For example, as shown in FIG. 6A, a balloon 2 is put on an object 3 such as a ring, and a thread 1 is wound densely around the balloon 2 from an edge 2A thereof. Therefore, the balloon 2 is pressed by the thread 1 and stretches in the direction indicated by an arrow, which results in a disadvantage that the size of the expanded area (i.e., area expanded or shrunken by a supply or suction of a fluid) 2B of the balloon 2 changes. For this reason, when an ultrasonic transducer is disposed inside the balloon 2, the positional relationship between the ultrasonic transducer and the maximum expanded area of the balloon 2 may be shifted, making it hard for ultrasound to propagate and causing an adverse effect on measurement.
Such a problem can be solved by densely winding the thread 1 toward the edge 2A of the balloon 2 as shown in FIG. 6B. However, in this case, a new problem occurs depending on how the thread 1 is tied after winding.
For example, as shown in FIG. 6C, a method of tying the ends of the thread 1 together on the winding portion has a disadvantage that slackens the tying thread 1 easily, and a disadvantage that snags a jutting knot 1A of the thread 1 from rest of the part easily.
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6D, it is possible to consider a method of densely winding the thread 1 toward the edge 2A of the balloon 2 first and then winding the thread 1 from the edge 2A, thus winding twofold. However, this method has a problem that the twofold-winding thread 1 causes to increase the diameter of the winding part. Another problem is that the inner thread 1 is likely to slacken when the outer thread 1 is wound. In addition, since the thread 1 is tied in the vicinity of the expanded area 2B of the balloon 2, the knot 1A of the thread 1 may tear the balloon 2 when the balloon 2 is expanded or shrunken.
Therefore, depending on how the thread 1 is wound or tied, the balloon 2 would conventionally result in various problems such as the balloon 2 getting expanded or damaged or the diameter of the winding part of the thread 1 becoming large. Such problems also occur when the balloon is attached to an insertion adapter or endoscope operating equipment or when an angle rubber, etc., to cover the insertion section of the endoscope is fixed.
Additionally, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-235847 does not specifically describe how to wind or tie the thread, and therefore the knot of the thread may protrude from the rest of the part. When the ultrasonograph with the protrusion is inserted into a clamp channel of the endoscope, the protrusion may be caught at the knot of the thread, tearing the balloon. Such problems may also occur when the balloon is fixed to the insertion adapter and endoscope operating equipment, or when the angle rubber and the like for covering the insertion section of the endoscope are fixed to those.